Bad moon rising
by EmmySwan
Summary: Based on my dream, that's why an OC is included. Three years after Apocalypse, monsters and ghosts start acting strange, stepping out of their zones and Castiel is different, hiding something. The Winchesters think Angels or/and demons might be planning an attack. Meanwhile, Dean fights with his own personal demons of guilt because of Cas. Reviews needed. Thank you for reading.
1. Chapter 1

The Devils you know

CHAPTER 1: BAD BOYS

There was an awful noise coming through my hall right into my bedroom. At first, I thought I must have been dreaming, who in their right mind would be trying to slam my front door down in the middle of the night...well, I had a few ideas, but my home was well protected. I was well protected. Managing to open my left eye, the light from the windows caused an instant headache. I looked at the clock beside my bed, it said 1.00 P.M. . Crap. I should've been up already. Working on my paper..due..well, in three hours. Crap.

- »Open the goddam door , Ally! Come on! Get the fuck up, we know you're there!«

Ugggh. The voice sounded familiar. I knew that voice. I would recognize it anywhere, anytime. That voice saved my ass a couple of times. I owned my life to it. Or, at least, what's left of it.

Not even bothering to put the rest of my clothes on, I walked to the door in my old Black Sabbath T-shirt, which used to be actually black, but now It was just a pale shade of grey. Having slept just couple of hours for days, I must have looked just the way I felt. Repetedly yawning, I scratched my scalp, realising my hair was in a mess and needed some serious grooming.

Puting my hand to the door knob, I pulled it towards me.

» Sam. Dean.« This was not a salutation. It was mearly a question what were they even doing here.

»Didn't Bobby call you?« the taller one asked, looking with a slight concern at my present state.

»Bobby?...No...no, why? What's wrong?« If those two were at my door, something must be wrong. And probably hell related wrong.

»There's a job here. We thought you might be interested.« Dean wasn't wasting his time chit-chating.

» I thought you didn't work with other hunters?«

»We dont. But you're more like family now. And besides, we had to make sure you were still breathing.« Dean smirked.

» Come in, tell me what's up«

The three of us walked back in to my appartment and while I went to get dressed properly, Dean's head was already in my frige, looking for beer. Sam sat on the couch and looked around at the mess of papers and books that were covering basically every surface of the place, still pressing his lips toghether with the same old expression of concern. But then, that was Sam. Being troubled and concerned was practically a primal aspect of his personality. Considering what he's been through, not just in this couple of years, but most of his life, he was holding up good. Normal people, weaker people would have gone crazy long ago.

»Um, so, you haven't been hunting much? I mean, Bobby said you didn't contact him in a while and...« Sam didn't even finish his sentence, he obviously left it to me.

»Um, yeah, no...I haven't. I needed a break. You know, last few years weren't easy for me, and probably I just...cracked. But just a bit. I'm fine. Really«

The voice coming from the frige was saying something sarcastically:

»So you decided to go back to university? Finish what's left? »

»I don't know. No. There's no going back to that life, but, as I said, it's just a break.« This wasn't a lie. Actually, it's the first truth that came out of my mouth in weeks. Even when talking to myself in the mirror. Especially when talking to myself. There was no going back. No apple pie life. But it was nice to pretend for a while.

The Apocalypse was over three years ago. Two boys, an old drunk and a fallen angel ended it. Sam was back from Hell, leaving Lucifer and Michael in the cage with Adam. Their third brother. Well, half-brother. We all knew the unimaginable torments he must be suffering there, being the archangels' chew toy for so long. But for now, we had no way of opening the cage again, even though we tried. God knows the boys tried to rescue their brother. Not even Castiel, who brought Sam back, had enough angel-mojo in him to lift up Adam. The cage that kept Lucifer and Michael away wans't ordinary, and it surely wasn't situated in a reachable limbo of the Hell. No, they were deep down in the pit, detached from most creatures inhabiting it.

So life was back to normal, you'd say. Bobby, the walking-talking-whiskey drinking hunter encyclopediae was digging up various kinds of books and picking up phones, saving our asses pretending to be our FBI suprerior when we got into more trouble than we could handle. And that wasn't at all that rare. Dean and Sam were working on jobs together, keeping their minds occupied and in that way safe from the mini-apocalypse that was going on inside them and between them. Castiel was...well, nobody knows where Cas was at the moment, or at all. He claps with his wings and appears here and there, but mostly when Dean calls him. Only when Dean calls him. We all know there's something wrong with Cas, it has been for a year or so, he's distant, quiet, puzzling and not giving straight answers. But, he's an angel, maybe that's normal for them. The point is, something definately is wrong. Upstairs. In Heaven. We can feel it, heck, even the monsters we hunt can feel it. And when it happens, it's going to be bad. And Cas is going to be involved in it, one way or another.

And as for me, as I said, I was just taking a break. When Death comes to town and demons posses your whole family, with you included, and then kill them, there is no going back to college. No more friends, no more parties, no barbecues during the weekends.

I don't know how Sam and Dean saved me. Or why did they even bother. But I'm glad they did. While death would have been the easiest way out, that would hardly have been my case. The demonic son of a bitch that was in me used my body for killing and torturing people. Older people. Children. People I knew. And the whole time, I was there. Conscious, present, aware of the pain, torture and fear I was causing, but completely unable to react. It's like you're both psychically and physically paralysed. So when they exorcized the demon out of me, my body was untact, I was still alive. And angry. Thirsty for revenge. For blood. Dean tried to warn me off, to get me back »on the right road«, to convince me to go back to living my normal life, because the life of hunters is dangerous not just for them but for everybody they love. But there was nobody left for me to love anymore. And they knew that. I looked into Sam's eyes and saw he undestood me, the anger, the wraith growing in me. He could relate. But Dean was just sad, because he blamed himself, yet again, for destroying the possibility of an »apple pie« life. Something he wanted so bad for himself.

Nevertheless, for me, it was never just about revenge. Once I got started, I saw how many people I could help, so many people I could rescue, maybe try to make the world a better place, to make a difference.

I was wrong.

No matter how hard we tried, how hard we fought, they were always coming back at us, just growing in numbers, in strenght. And every single Apocalypse that the »Team Free Will«, as we liked to joke about them, stopped, another one accured. There was no end of the line. Not for the boys. Even if they died, they would bring them back. God, Angels, Devil...it didn't matter.

What hurt Dean, probably more than Sam and Bobby, was the knowlege that Heaven was no better. Angels were maybe even bigger dicks than demons. And God? God just gave up on all of us. We wre all on our own, and humans... no wonder we were losing the fight. After all, there was just a small number of us, aware and trained for this war.

A voice coming behind me snapped me from my thoughts.

» You know, I wish I could tell you that some lame high school teaching position is in your cards. But after everything, I doubt it.« Turning around, I looked at Dean, leaned on the wall, with one hand resting on his hip,casually drinking the beer but hiding what seemed to be sadness in his eyes. –» I'm sorry, kid.«

»Yeah. I know.« I swallowed hard. »- So, what monster brought you to this part of the country anyway?« I guessed it was time to change the subject.

» Skinwalkers.« was the short answer coming from the older Winchester brother, still standing behind my back.

» Exactly. But, not any regular kind of skinwalkers. We think there might be something new about them. Like they have...evolved. » Sam sounded as if he was not sure about his choice of words.

» What, like Pokemon?«

» Well, creepy kind of Pokemon, anyway. They feed on people. With the preference for teenage boys. »

» Oh, shit«- I laughed-» that's a bit pedophiliac even for monsters«

»No shit, Sherlock«- Dean was raising his bottle in a sing of a toast.

»Anyway, they found their way to infiltrate to middle schools in this area. As a consequence, we now have at least 6 boys missing, two from every school, maybe more, 4 of them have been dead for sure. »

» Bobby thinks they come in pairs, you know, they hunt toghether for meat, change their form to adolescents, kidnap the boys and feed on them afterwards. They move on then.« - Dean explained.

» Wait, so what, they take a human form, in this case teenage boys, so they can get close to others, kidnap and feed on them later?«

»Something like that, yes.« - Sam confirmed

»He told you, evolving like Pokemons, monsters theese days. »

»Ok then, so I guess you have a traced them now?« - I asked, interested in this case, which made no fucking sense considering all we knew about skinwalkers.

»Kind of. There are only a few schools left in this area, we've already checked one, so that leaves another two. You coming with us?« - Dean sounded impatient.

»Well, sure. Why not. Just let me call my girls, they'd want in, I know it. »

Dean rolled with his eyes. It wasn't that he didn't like them, Chris and Tina, he just didn't want to be responsable for possible deaths of anybody else.

The two girls were hunters, just like me. We've been friends for a long time, since we were 7, which was 15 years ago. They, too, have lost their families when the forth horseman of Apocalypse came to town.

Couple of hours later, the five of us was sitting in the Impala and heading towards a middle-school in the area that hasn't been checked yet. Chris was the first to speak.

-»Ok, give us some more information, what kind of skinwalkers are we dealing with ?«

- » Here's the problem« Sam said-» We think it's a Leshy. A Slavic forrest monster that can posses a form of any living being and change sizes. They be as small as a leaf of grass or as tall as a freaking Sequoia. Not to mention, they are able to shift to an actual Sequoia. Leshys usually imitate human voices and lurke their victimes to their in human form, their eyes glow red. But the fun part, they don't _eat_ the victimes. And they also usually don't leave the are considered to be some sort of protectors of animals and forest creatures, which means they attack humans only if they see them as a threat.«

- » And we're sure they have fed on the boys because...?« -Tina was not convinced

-» Because we found the bones of some of them. With bite marks, that weren't human teeth. In the caves. In the woods. » said Dean sharply.

-» Shit. Ok, so how do we kill it? Silver?«

-» Yap. Silver knife through the heart should work. We hope. They are also known to run towards a fire in the forest and try to extinguish it.«

Dean pulled the car in front of a big building, sorrounded by a concrete jungle and just a cople of trees. A pretty sad look for a middle school. They have already changed their clothes to "respectable FBI agents, Johnson and his partner Kirk« and headed to the main entrance in order to talk with the principle. Chris and I went to the back door and tried to cause as little noise as we could, while observing the pupils walking down the halls and sitting in their classrooms. Tina stayed in the Impala and observed the place from the outside. For the life of me, I couldn't find anything awkward going on. All of the children looked normal and in the moment where I was to give up and go outside to wait for the brothers, two boys passed by me. I couldn't see their eyes, but a strange feeling just sent shivers down my spine. As I turned around to follow them, they already dissapeared in the mass of children.

-»So, the principle said no kids were missing from his school, and also no suspicious newcomers in last few days. He's aware of the situation and kids going missing so he's introducing some safty measures, but for now, we've got squat. »

-» What's next? The second school?« -I asked

-» Yeah, but first, we've got to feed my baby here, she's been howling for hours!«- Dean patted the roof of his car and we got in.

As we stood on the gas station, Dean »feeding« his precious and Sam inside buying something to eat, I noticed a schoolbus full of children stopping next to us. It looked like they have just retured from camping or some kind of excursion. There was nothing suspicious about them, except...I couldn't quite put my finger to it, but those two boys over there looked familiar, where have I...o shit! Those were the same two boys I saw roaming down the school halls just minutes ago!

-» That's them, that's them, look at their eyes!«- I was growing impatient- »Dean, Dean! Look at those two, they're the ones we're looking for!« He turned around to see them, but they have already noticed us and jumped in some car. They were pulling away as we spoke.

-» Sammy! Get in the car!«- Dean yelled. In one second, we were chasing and old blue Volvo, driven by a couple of fake 14 yearolds. –»Go faster, we're loosing them« -»Shut up, kid, I'm going as fast as I can!« The fact that it was 4 p.m and a rush hour didn't help much. We kept avoiding the cars as much as we could, causing two or three crashes as we passed the red lights on the crossroads or took advantage while turning left, then left again and right. The Leshys turned off the engine and ran to the nearest building. A school. »

-» We're going in, we have to capture them!«

-»Dean, are you nuts?! You can't just run right into a middle-school and stab a bunch of kids. And for all we know, they might have shifted again already!- Sam was trying to be reasonable.

-» Sammy,we don't have time. We're going in. You three, wait here by the car and be prepared to run!« Just seconds later, we heard sirens coming from the main road. The police. Great, just what we needed. But Sam and Dean were already in the building.

-» They didn't see the police coming! I have to warn them«- I yelled and ran after them.

A bell rang signalizing the end of the school for the day and the halls were filled with children, teachers heading towards the door. I saw Sam and Dean running up the stairs, chasing the Leshys. Unfortunately, so did a teacher.

-»Hey, you two! What are you doing, leave those boys alon! HELP! Call the police! There are some men trying to hurt the kids!« But the police was already there, cuffing Sam and Dean. And the monsters? They were gone. We've lost them.

Few minutes later, we were in front of the school, and Sam and Dean were getting in the police car. In a split second, Dean looked at me, while the police officers were busy interrogating to the teacher.

-» We'll get out in no time, don't go hunting on your own, they're too dangerous.«

-» But Dean...«

-» No! Listen to me, wait for us! And call Bobby, the silver doesn't work.«

- » Wait...What?!«

-»Call Bobby. And don't do anything stupid!«- He sure tried to emphasize those last few words.

And they were gone.

I turned around and looked at the two friends behind me.

-» What did he say?«

-» Silver doesn't work. We need to call Bobby. And get this bithces. »

We took the Impala and drove away from the school.

-» Hey Bobby, it's Ally.«

-»What happend? Are those two idjts ok? Are you ok?«- came the response from the grumpy voice on the other side of the phone.

-» Yeah, we're alive. Sam and Dean are on the police, they got them. But that's not the problem. The Leshys are. Silver doesn't work. We don't know how to kill them. And, yeah, we lost them.«

-» Balls. Ok, give me an hour, I'll se what can be found.«

-» Ok, thanks Bobby.«

I looked at my friends. –»So, what do we do next?« Tina was the first to speak: -» Lets go through the schools that haven't been atacked yet, maybe...« - she was interrupted by the phone ringing in the Impala.

-»It's Dean's phone, the fake number«- that sounded more like a question than a statement. I picked up .

-» Hello, agent Johnson? Um, It's principal Vernon, we spoke earlier today...«

- »Um, hello principal Vernon, mr. Johnson can't come to the phone in the moment. I'm his secretary. How can I help you?«

- »Oh, ok. Could you please tell him I've called, about the case he was here before. Um, two boys weren't in the school anymore when their parents came to pick them up...«

- »How old were they, mr. Vernon?«

-» 14«

-» I see. Thank you for calling. I'll let him know immediately.« I put down the phone.

-» Seems we're going back. They've attacked.«

-» Do you know where could they've hidden the bodies? Didn't Sam mention some kind of caves in the woods?

-» Yeah, but the school is surrounded by freaking concrete. There are bearly trees here. »- I said, as we left the car on the parking lot of the school. We decided to take a look around and find a place that seemed good enough for skinwalkers to hide their prey. Everything happened quite quickly so they couldn't have gone far, they couldn't have gone to the woods and were probably forced to find a suitable place in the school area. My phone rang again. It was Bobby, hopefully with good news.

-» Hey, bad news, kid.«- crap. Fuck. – »You'll need bullets that have been rolled in infant's ashes.«

-»Excuse me, we'll need what?!«

-» But don't worry, Castiel should be able to acquire those for you.«

-» And how do I get to him? He isn't exactly answering his prayers...«

-»I've talked to him. He'll be there in a minute.«

-»Wait, Bobby...«- but he already hung up. I took a deep breath and looked around. We were hunting skinwalkers, unarmed and waiting for help from an angel who seemed to be ignoring us for months now. In that moment we heard a familiar noise that sounded like a pair of wings landing somwhere near. A tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed man in a dirty trenchcoat materialized next to us.

-»I have what you need. Don't miss«- came from a deep voice, looking straight foreward him, as if he didn't even

-»Cas! Where have you been, man? We've been trying to reach...«- but he just handed two bullets and was gone. Wonderful. Well, at least we had weapons against them now. We just had to find them now. And hope the children were still alive. Wandering around the school property, trying to pass unnoticed, we were looking for anything that looked suitable for draging teenage boys in it. Suddenly, Chrissy started caughing, sweating. She became pale as a wall. –» Guys, I'm dizzy, I'm gonna be sick...« but instead of sitting down and taking a rest, she ran towards a small garage near the school gym. The two of us followed her. We bursted through the door, aiming at the creature that grabbed Chrissy by her neck. It wasn't in it's human form any more. It wasn't a tall creature, but it had long twig-like arms with sharp fingernails and pointed teeht. His back and legs were covered with something that looked like dying leafs. It screamed at us, making us cover our ears, and jumped in the whole that it previously had dug in the ground, taking Chrissy with it. Tina and I looked at each other, shruged our shoulders and followed it.

When we hit the ground, we found ourselves it a place that looked like a cave, there was mud, leaves everywhere. But the creature was gone, so we starded running down the only path that was there. Not long after, we heared children screaming and begging for help. The place was of round shape, with the lost boys chained to the walls. Four of them were still alive. Other ones, just bones. The two creatures looked at us and started screaming again, trying to disarm us, but this time, we were prepared, having our earphones. Tina and I gabbed our guns and shot the creatures directly in the forehead. They fell to the ground, dead.

-» Is everybody ok? We're here to help, we'll get you home.« As the creatures died, Chrissy was feeling herself again, so she helped us rescue the boys. With help of each other, the seven of us managed to climb up the cave and we found ourselves on the surface again. »Look, what you saw, you were halucinating. Those bad man druged you and wanted to hurt you. But they were just men, we know what you think you saw, but don't worry.« I had a feeling our consolations weren't about to work and those poor children would be scared for life, knowing that the monsters under their beds and in the dark were real...

The next day, I was sitting in the local jail waiting room when I saw both Dean and Sam walking towards me. That was strange, were they allowing two of their suspects for attacking children talk to each other and to a visitor? They seemed as confused as me.

-»So the job is done«- there was a bit of gloating in my voice, but Dean was looking at me with dissaproval, his hed tilted just a bit to one side.

-» How did you do it?«- Sam was wandering with his usual concern.

-»That's the funny part. Well, not so funny. Gross actually. We needed bullets rolled in newborn infant's ashes.« Now, both brothers were looking at me with dissaproval, and a bit of disguist.

-» Need I ask how the hell did you get to that in the little time you had?«- demons. He was considering me talking to demons, making some kind of deals, quid pro quo. But making deals with the Devil was more in their hobby description, not mine.

-» Don't worry. Nothing like that. Cas gave them to us. How did he get them and what angel laws he broke now, I don't know.« At the sole mention of the angel's name, Dean lowered his look and pressed his lips together. I could see the pain in his eyes, the guilt he feels just by saying his name. Castiel is like family to them, he is their friend, but for Dean, he is much more. Besides Sam, he is the only person in the whole creation, Heaven, Earth or Hell that he would risk everything for. And he did, lots of times. As did Castiel. For Dean, to help him, to save him, he rebelled against his own kind, against his brothers, been tortured, killed and brought back. Too much heart was always Castiel's problem. But that heart, in some way, belonged to Dean. He was his angel, his protector. And when his whole family of angels, his own brothers rejected him, Dean kept Cas by his side, safe. A part of the family, a part of himself.

So now, when something was happening with Cas, when he wasn't answering our prayers, wasn't talking to any of us anymore, not even Dean, but he didn't gave up on his angel. Every night he kept praying to Cas, begging him to let Dean help him, to come back home to him, but there was no answer. Inevitably, Dean feels guilty. Somehow, again, whatever is happening with Cas up in Heaven, it's his fault. If he didn't beg him to stay, to listen to his heart and act upon his free will, Cas would be safe and everything would be ok. But he doesn't understand that Castiel never had a choice. Not since he pulled Dean back from Hell, all those years ago. That made a profound bond beteween them, a bond based on trust and love that not even Heaven could break. As Dean said, they were family. They needed each other.

-» You talked to Cas?«- Sam was interested in the way the story was going.

-» Not so much as talked. He just gave us the bullets and flew away. But Bobby might talked to him, at least so he said« - Dean raised his eyes to meet me, running hand over his mouth, still looking devastated.

-»Does Bobby have any idea how get us out of here?« Dean finally spoke.

-» I don't know. But we'll come up with something, I promise. We won't let you rot in here for much longer.«

-» Good. We've got jobs to do. People to save«

-» You sure you're not just using hunting again as an escape from the shitload of bad stuff happening in your life right now?« -Unespected, the words came out of Sam's mouth.

-» Shut up, Sammy«- and here he was, again, staring at the blank table before him with an expression that was breaking our hearts, because we knew there was nothing we could do that would bring Cas back to him.

- » Um, guys, I'm kind of worried here. What if something bad is happening? I mean, evolving skinwalkers immune to silver?«

-»Please, don't jinx us, please, don't even start thinking about another fucking Apocalypse...«

-» No, really, Leshys kindaping and feeding on children? So far from the woods? »

-» You think somebody is making new monsters? Better ones, improved? Monsters 2.0? » Sam was asking this quietly while looking around the room, as if he found something to be suspicous. He ran fingers through his hair, and leaned more foreward on the table.

-» I hope not. I really hope not. »- my voice was tired, as was I, so I just closed my eyes and slammed my head to my hands. Two brothers kept talking, with their voices lowered, almost whispering.

-»She is right Dean, there's definitely something going on. Don't you see it... it's been all too quiet last few months. Almost zero demon possesions, the angels are keeping quiet, and the monsters are steping out of their zones. Look at this, Lesys feeding on children? Out of the forests, attacking instead of protecting the woods?! it's just too strange. »

-» So you think we're really facing another end of the world? Again? Maybe they're coming from Purgatory...«

-» But we shut the gate, Dean, there's no way from monsters to get back from Purgatory to Earth. Even so, that wouldn't explain the whole evolving thing.« - While Sam was turning around nervously and crushing his fingers during this conversation, Dean's form remained intact. His shoulders down, hands before him on the table and eyes focused on the empty table.

-» Dean, uh, were there so many guards when we steped in this room? Don't make any sudden movements, but raise your head. There's something happening right now, right here. Ally, wake up, I think we'll might need to fight.« Dean slowly liftted first his eyes, then his head, and checked the room. I followed his example. Trying not to breathe heavily, my heart started pumping like crazy. Sam was right, there was about dozen guards and some prisoners standing all around our table, blocking every possible exit from the room. This had every predisposition of turning into a very, very, bad day. Before we managed to actually do anything, lights on the ceiling started flickering. The three of us just slowly lifted our eyes up, as if trying to convince ourselves that this was, unfortunately, real and not merely a dream.

-»Ooooh, no.«- whispered Sam. A well known voice with a thick Scotish accent greeated:

-»Hello, boys.«


	2. THE ALLY

CHAPTER 2: THE ALLY

A well known voice with a thick scothish accent greeted:

»Hello, boys«

I could sense him standing behind me, there was no need to turn my head. In fact, I did the best I could to hide not only my fear from him, but my entire existence. I was so terrified, my palms were sweating and I was sure that If I stood up, my knees would give up on me instantly. So, I just kept my head down, not moving, breathing as slowly and quietly as I could. On the other side of the table, Sam and Dean weren't sharing my concerned emotions. Maybe they've been through enough shit with him by now to fear him or, mybe, this was just their standard »give 'em hell« attitude. Either way, I hoped they weren't about to do something stupid. As for instance, fight. Because, we had no fucking chance in hell of exiting this room with our heads still attached to our bodies, not with all theese demons surrounding us, and no weapons, demon blade, or salt in our reach.

The boys were looking at Crowley, the resident King of Hell and one of our dearest nemesis for years now, with hate in their eyes. Sam decided to speak first.

»So it was you? The skinwalkers and their stepping out their zones? Was it the way to get us here? Why«

»Yeah, what is that you want, Crowley?« ?« - Dean joined him, sounding relatively annoyed

»Oh, come on, boys! I expected a warmer welcome, after all, we've done some great buisness toghether in the past, haven't we?«

»Yes, of course, and you've tricked us how many times exactly?!« it was Dean, growing impatient, but still sitting motionlessly as before, just his jaw moving and twitching in anger.

»No, no, don't put all of this on me. It's not my fault you two morons don't read the contract. I've helped you with Lucifer, I helped you to gank Dick fucking Roman, my intentions were good. I'm a decent guy, although you might not believe it.«- he sounded cocky as always.

»You're a real Mother Theresa«

I could hear his steps coming closer to the table, to me, and my skin crawled. As if Sam could sense my terror, he suddenly grabbed my hand with his and moved his head closer to mine, whispering: »Don't worry, we'll get out of this. He won't hurt you«. But the demon could see right through me.

»Ha! And you've brought the kid with you? »- he was too close to me, I could smell him right next to my right shoulder-» are you trying to get the girl killed? I mean, you must see the pattern by now...I see it. Befriend the Winchester brothers, fight with them, get tortured and in the end killed. But she's kind of young to get sacrificed by you, isn't she?«-He got even closer to me, puting his hand on my hair, removing it from my face. The very touch of him made my stomach twist, made me feel sick and disgusted. »Couldn't you just let her live her normal life with mom and dad and little, curly-haired sister? Oh, right, no...I forgot. They're dead. My boys had some fun with them, used them a bit and than got rid of them. »- I was burning inside with every word that came out of his mouth, it was just a matter of time when I would simply snap and grab him by his neck. I could picture it so well in my mind right now. Thrusting my fingernails to the skin on his neck, his blood dripping on my hand, him chuckling and then me, holding Dean's knife firmly in my hand, sticking it directly through his rotten heart and killing this goddamn motherfucking son of a bitch once and for all.

But I didn't even blink. I had enough reason in me to realize it would do us more harm than good. And, either way, I didn't have a good chance in killing him now. But I will. Crowly could probably see my thoughts, or at least guess what I was thinking about, because he continued, having fun- »Oh, but, sweetheart, this is not all...you see, when we want it, we can just take the souls with us. So your mommy, daddy and Curly Sue..they are deep down in the pit. They have been, for how long now? Two years? Three? That's a lot of time, if you consider how it passes way slower when you're downstairs being tortured.«- he moved his head closer to mine, wanting to make sure I hear his next words clearly: » And your pretty little sister, well, let's just say some of my boys like their meat quite young.«- I snapped. This was obviously the line. I lifted my head and turned towards him: »SHUT UP! You motherfucking liar! You're lying!« He was staring directly into my eyes, raised his eyebrow and smiled: »Am I?« Sam strengthened his grip on my hands: »Don't listen to him, Ally. He's lying. There's no chance he's got their souls.«

But Crowley paid no attention to him, he kept his glaring into my eyes, still smiling sarcastically. »Believe what you will, but the truth is...« he left the sentence unfinished, winked at me and straightened his posture, standing tall again next to the table.

»As you morons might already have noticed, something weird is happening in your precious world. And that is precisely why I've had you brought here.« he looked at Sam »You wrongly suggested before I had something to do with Leshy's eating people and going Big City Life, but I must dissapoint you. However, you wouldn't believe it, but this anomalies trouble me too.«

»Why? Wouldn't you just love to sit back and watch the comedy of us fighting leveled-up monsters while innocent people are dying?« Dean snapped.

»Oh, I would, absolutely. But, you see, the problem is I don't control these monsters. They're not of my crew, if you understand. Which means, somebody else is upgrading them. And that somebody might be a threat not only for you, humans,« -he said that with disgust in his voice-»but for me, too. And, frankly, well, I can't let that happen. I'm the King of Hell, after all. »

»So who do you think is doing this? »-Sam asked-» Some Eve's succsessor? If we're talking about monsters, they all come from Purgatory and...«

»But we closed the gate. It makes no sense«- Dean cut him.

»Are there no bad boys you know of, capable of causing mayhem on Earth?- eyebrows raised, he looked playful.

»Angels«- I said quietly. I didn't mean to talk, or raise any awareness to my existence by this table again, not with Crowly here, but my mouth was apparently working a lot faster than my brain. Again. That always got me in trouble.

»Aaaaah, now we're talking. The Heaven squad, of course. Didn't your feathery friend mention anything to you?«- he was looking directly to Dean now, carefully observing Dean's reaction. On the mention of Cas, Dean's features hardened, hands clenched in fists, gritting his teeth.-» Oh, he hasn't. Castiel's been awfully silent lately, no?«- Crowley continued.-» That's funny, for a guy who swears to be your protector, your friend, your family...to forget to mention this. One would suppose this being a big deal.«

»Cut the crap, Crowley. What do you know about this whole angel situation?«- It was obvious Dean didn't want to let his guard down when talking about Cas in front of anybody, much less Crowley. At this point, Cas was still something sacred to him, something an enemy couldn't touch. However, recent events and Cas' distance were starting to plant seeds of doubt in Dean.

»Well, not much, actually. That's why I had you brought here, but I see you're of no use. As usual.«-he snapped his tongue-» What I do now is that there is a new leader rising upstairs. One who's not burdened with obedience to an absent father figure. One who shares slightly different views on humans than your beloved Castiel, or even Gabriel. You might say, somebody who glorifies certain angel who rebelled all that time ago, but we don't like to talk about him, do we?« – IfCrowley was telling the truth, if this new angel he was talking about worshiped Lucifer's actions, we might have a real problem. With God missing, there weren't a lot of angels still willing to obey his orders. Every day another angel decides to act upon their will and knowledge, believing that Lucifer might not have been wrong after all. Besides, why should powerful celestial beings like angels worship some weak, flawed maggots like us? Just because He said so?

»So who is the new boss?«

»Her name is Naomi.«

»Her?!«- Dean repeated squinting his eyes in a grimace. The feminist in me suddenly woke up and gave him a disapproving look.

»Don't be judgemental, Dean. She is quite powerful, actually. She is the leader of the Sixth Order of Angels.«- obviously the three of us haven't been doing our Angels homework, expressions on our faces completely bland. He noticed that.

»You don't know what I'm talking about, do you? »- Crowly took a deep breath and rolled his eyes.-»You morons. How the hell are you even still alive?!«

»Well, they did bring us back a few times, to be honest...« Dean was trying to work his charm.

»Anyway. »- Crowley continued, disregarding Dean's comment.-»I don't know yet exactly what she wants. But it can't be good. That's why« -he paused dramatically-»I want to make a deal. »

»Oh, no. No fucking way, buddy.«- bursted Sam-»We're done with you«

»Hear me out, Moose. If you want to save the world once more, you're going to need all the help you can get. And this time, we're on the same side, no? The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all. I'm offering you an alliance. For the greater good. Or, you know, to save my ass.«- I could see Dean actually considering this.-»You don't have to answer now, I'll give you 48 hours. But I strongly suggest you accept your offer. In these nasty times, you really can't afford having two enemies.«- he finished, spread his hands in sign of greeting. »You're free to go, ladies and gentlemen.«- the demons surrounding the whole room moved away from the exit. We stood up from the table slowly, still examining the situation, if we're really safe to walk out of the room or shoul we expect another attack instead. With Crowley in charge, you could never be sure.

»And what about the people here?«- Dean was afraid of leaving a dozen dead guards and prisoners behind him once Crowly and his men smoked themselves up through the ceiling.

Crowly lifted his eyebrow, intrigued. »What about them? Oh, don't worry. To prove my newfound loyalty to you, our future buisness partners, I will leave those people unharmed. Just as we found them, is that right boys?«- he looked to his demons, who nooded, but kept a slight sarcastic smile on their faces.

As soon as we were back in the fresh air and walking towards the impala, I started talking.

»You're not serious, right? I mean, you can't make deals with Crowly, he's going to double cross us, you're aware of that?«

»Look, we might not have a chance here...«

»Dean, come on! You know this is not the right thing to do!« He stopped, raising his voice.

»Well, having both the Angels and Crowly as enemies at once is not a good idea either! If what he's saying true, we will need him. Unfortunately.«

»Exactly. _If_ that's true. We can't trust him. And, besides, what do you think Bobby'll say to all of this? Crowly still has his soul, remember?«

»We're going to Bobby's right now and we'll discuss it then. Also, with his library, we'll be able to do some more research on the theme and find out if Crowly's telling the truth.« – Sam decided to join the conversation, stepping between us. I sighed and walked forward, leaving the two brothers behind me.

The road to Bobby's was going to be a long one, so while Dean was driving and Sam was taking a nap, It took me about 10 minutes to find a confortable pose in the backseat,followed by some more sighs and cursing below my voice which obviously triggered Dean.  
»Oh, for fuck's sake, Ally, would you give it a rest already?!«- I met his eyes in the mirror, squinting.

»Well, I'm trying, but this car is...«- he didn't even let me finish. Nobody had the right to insult his car. You could insult pretty much anything and anyone, but not the Impala.

»Don't you dare! Shhh! Not a word, Ally.«

»Ok, fine, fine. I'm settled, ok? I'll take a nap now.«

»You do that. »

I closed my eyes and tried to find some rest. I was quite tired and my body was still aching after falling down the cave yesterday, but my mind was wide awake. After what Crowley said, I couldn't just think of happy thoughts and drift to Neverland. So, I bent over and grabbed the back of Dean's seat, placing my head between his and Sam's seat.

»Can't sleep?«- he asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

»I can't stop thinking about what Crowley said. About my family.«

»He was lying, Ally. He's a demon, that's what they do. He knows your weakness and he's using it to hurt you. Don't trust him.«- his voice was steady, quiet.

»I can't help it. What are the chances for that to be true?He's a king of hell, Dean. And my parents and Emma, they died while possesed. What if their souls are not in heaven?«

» He doesn't have them, Ally.«

»How can you be so sure? Don't you understand, I can't just let it go, I need to make sure they're safe. I can't just take you're word on it..«

»I do understand. And I know how helpless you feel, but right now, we can't do anything about it. When we arrive at Bobby's...«

»..you'll call Castiel?«- i finished his sentence. He opened his mouth to speak but didn't answer me. After a long silence, while I was still staring at him, making him uncomfortable and not letting him get away with the question, he finally spoke.

»Yeah. I'll call him again. If Crowley's saying the truth, that could explain a lot of things about Cas' behavior lately. Although...damn it, it's me who's been calling him, praying to him, you know. I thought he'd answer me, especially if there's something sketchy going on. I'm supposed to be there for him, I promised him that. Maybe...«- he paused, the look in his eyes distant. I could see how badly it's affecting him, Cas not answering. However, it was really strange to hear Dean talking about his relationship with Cas, about his feelings for him. –»Maybe he doesn't trust me? Doesn't think I could be good enough to help him through this? He did say somethink similar before...«

» No, no, he loves you, Dean and he trusts you. He probably thinks he's protecting you by keeping you out of this. He's trying to protect all of us.«

» You're probably right. Either way, when we get to Bobby's, I'll call Cas and maybe he can do something about your situation, you know. Check upstairs if your folks and lil'one are ok.« I nooded lowering my head and decided to end this conversation, heavy for both of us.

»Do you want to take a rest? Maybe I could drive the car...« but he just bursted out laughing, waking Sam up in the process.

»What are you two so happy about?« - he asked, switching his eyes from me to Dean and back.

»Uh, um, it's nothing. Just, Ally here has some crazy ideas.«- Dean was practically tearing up with laughter. I, on the other hand, was a bit insulted and pouted my lips while squinting. With hands crossed on my chest, I laid back.

»Hey, Sammy, you wanna swithch? I might take a nap.« -he winked at his brother.

Moments later, he pulled the car out of the road, so they could switch places and grab a quick beer. I stayed in the back seat, still in the same pose as before, so Dean knocked on the window of the car.

»Hey, you plan to sulk whole day or you gonna stretch your legs for a sec?« I got out the car and walked pass him.

»You're not fair.« He bent his knees to be in the same level with me and took my face between his hands.

»Honey, I trust you with my life, but let's face it. You're a pretty shitty driver. I can't trust you with my baby, sorry«- he smiled mockingly. He never let me drive the Impala if there was another way out. Only chances were when he was not around and/ or in trouble. He was right, though. I was a bad driver and my parking skills were basically non-existent. But I wasn't willing to adimit it right now, so I stuck my tongue out and turned to Sam.

»How long 'till we get to Bobby's?«

»A couple of hours, I think. We should be there before dark.«- he answered.

When we arrived, Bobby was standing on his front porch with a beer in his hand. He saw us coming, lifted the bottle up in the air and signaled us to come inside. As we stepped inside, he hugged us, and I immediately felt safe, at home. The place always looked the same, the old, dark red rug on the floor was still dirty from the spilt beer, the floor was cracking beneath us, there were no curtains on the windows, with the exeption of kitchen, and even there they were dirty. Bobby's working desk was filled with old books and scripts, papers containing various spells and »recipes«. In the middle of the desk, there was a half empty bottle of a cheap whiskey and a glass next to it. The place smelled of mixture of alcohol, old furniture and canned meatballs, cooking on the stew. This was no palace, but it felt cozy and warm. This was the only place one the planet I felt safe.

»So, how'd you get those two idjits out?«- he asked, leaning on the desk.

»Well, that...we need to talk about that. You ain't gonna like it. » - I said with eyes fixed on the two of them, standing behind me. Dean just rolled his eyes.

»Look, it's not the best idea ever, but it's also the only choice we've got.«

»What the hell is he talking about? What did you screw up this time?!« - Bobby was getting positively scared and he had every right to be.

»It's Crowley.« - stepped in, smiling sarcastically. The expression on Bobby's face turned to pure horror.

»Bobby, we need to talk«- Sam sat on the couch, showing us how this conversation will take some time.

»Crowley was there, in the prison. He's bitches were the ones who captured us in the first place. He wanted to talk to us...and he has a propositon.«- Dean started explaining slowly, but Bobby's expression remained unchanged.

»According to him, there is a new threat upstairs. An angel, a strong one, is gathering up army to raise against humans, delete us from the face of the Earth.«

»And Crowley informed you about this out of the godness of his heart?«- Bobby raised his eyebrows.

»No. This angel he's talking about, isn't planing on wasting only the human race. She wants the demons gone, too. And here's where Crowley steps in.«

»She?«- again, the sex of the angel was the primary interest of everybody, making me roll my eyes again.

»Well, yes. Naomi. So he says.«

»So, Crowley wants to make a pact. To protect both sides. He'll have our backs, if we work with him.«

»And you dumbasses trust him?! The frickin King of Hell?! An ex- crossroads demon?!« I nooded approvingly, while the boys just stood there, not daring to speak up.

»Have you both lost your minds?! He'll trick you, we can't trust him! You idjsts!«

»We haven't said »yes« yet...we wanted to talk to you first.«- Dean finally grew a pair.

»Crowley has my soul, Dean.«- Bobby answered slowly and quietly but emphasizing every word.

»I know. I remember. But if we say yes to him, one of the conditions would be to give you your soul back.« Dean tried to justify himslef, but Bobby just burried his face in his hands.

»And why exactly does King of Hell need our help to stop some angels? They're both so much more powerful than us, have you stopped to think why couldn't he deal with this himself?«

»Strength in numbers?«- Dean offered as an answer.

»There's more to that. So when is your due date? »

»We've got 48 hours. Actually, make it a little under 40.«

»Look, Bobby, we don't want to work with him either. But, there's not much of a choice. If we refuse, we have two enemies. And we can barely manage him alone, what will happen when Naomi strikes?«- Sam said, trying to reason with him. Bobby bit his lips and lowered his head, nodding.

»Alright. So what do we know about this Naomi?«

»We know she the leader of something called the Sixth Order of Angels...«- I answered.

»Oh. »- Bobby's eyes widened- »That's not a good news.«

»You know about them? »

»I know something. Obviously more than all of you. You see, the Angels of the Lord are ranked. By their mission, by their power, they closeness to God, whatever you call it. There are three levels, and each of them consist out of a few orders. The Sixth Order are also called the Power Angels, and are part of the second level...«

»Excuse me, Power Rangers?«

»Power _Angels_ you dumbass, and that wasn't even funny.« But I giggled anyway. Bobby sat behind his desk and opened two very large books the took from the bottom of the pile.

»What I know about them is that they're supposed to be warriors, fighting demons, in charge of the harmony on Earth. They are also, very, very powerful. »- he started searching through the books.

»Look, it's here.«- Sam, Dean and approached the desk and bent over it to get a better look on the old, dusty book.

»When God created angels, he divided them in Orders or Choirs, a type of ranks, you migh say«- Bobby started to explain-»whole nine of them, actually. And, those Orders are forming three Spheres of Angelic Realm. The First Sphere is consisted of Orders of Angels closest to God. They are Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones.«

»Wait, what? Cherub's are God's favorite angels? The ones closest to him?«- asked Dean, face in a grimace. He probably remembered the whole Valentine's day case and the touchy-feely Cherub in speedos.

»No, you're wrong. All angels, all Orders are of same importance to God. There is no concrete evidence in the Bible about the exact ranking or order of importance of certain Choir. They are different only by their position, by their mission. Closest to God doesn't necessarily mean his favorites, but those to who he talks most. The Secon Sphere is what we're concerned about. It's made of next three Orders of Angels, Dominions, Virtues and Powers.«- Bobby continued, emphasizing the last word.

»The angels of the Second Sphere are governors, guardians of harmony between must make sure that the cosmos remains in order. Furthermore,«- Bobby continued reading, after swallowing hard and taking a deep breath.-» they are a sort of an elite guard, so their mission is to be in the first line of defense against the demonic attacks on the Earth. But in the same time, those three Orders are concerned with keeping up just enough evil in the world as good, so the balance of the realms wouldn't be interrupted. Powers, Dominions and Virtues are described as warriors or, sometimes, »hosts« which, from Hebrew, translates to army or military. Along with their authority, they are given even bigger knowledge and intellect than other Orders. They are, also, given the authority to, sometimes, in times of war, govern and influence other two Spheres.«- I exchanged worried gazes with Sam and Dean. All of this, which Bobby just read sounded extremly alarming. But he kept his head down, completely taken over by the writings in those books.

»It says here that the Powers belong to the Sixth Order of angels. They are supposed to be the first angels created by God. Their mission is to dispense justice and regulate chaos in the religions of the world. They are, also, the angels of birth and death. »

»Huh, this sounds reassuring.«

»Ok«- I stepped in-»and the Third Sphere?«

»The Third Sphere of angels are angels who are most like us. Like humans. They are also called Angels of the Earth, because they often interact with humans and our lives.«

»Like Cas.«- Dean said below his voice, lowering his head. We all heard that, but none of us reacted, thinking we might just cause more pain to Dean at this point.

»They, um, they are called Principalities, Archangels and Angels. The Principalities are, basically, guardians of people, continents, animals, they observe our world and take notes and interfere if necessary...«-Bobby took a deep breath-» Those bastards, Archangels, we've been dealing with them before. Leaders. That's what they're supposed to be. Fucking bastards. And, the final Order, the Angels, well they're the mixture of Archangels and Principalities. They have a similar mission as the Archangels with the difference of being responsable for more earthly matters. They watch over humans, like Principalities, but not whole nations but individuals and they tend to, uh, grow close to the individuals they have in charge.« We stood there in silence for few moments, trying to digest all these informations, while Bobby was still fully concentrated the book.

»Hm.«- Bobby suddenly stopped reading. Sill not paying any attention to us, he began to the books on the desk, in search for something, pushing some books over the edge and on the floor. He stood up and turned around to face a huge bookshelf behind him. Mumbling something incoherent to himself, he pulled an old, dusty book from the top shelf and sat back behind the desk. It took him just a couple of minutes of turning the pages to find what he was looking for. Finally, he looked at us and pointed to a small paragraph in the book. »I've read it before, you know, how angels aren't all good. There have been holy and unholy angels from the begining, Lucifer wasn't just some archangel who rebelled. The holy angels, those guys are supposed to be good, as in protectors of human race. But the unholy angels, they have a lot more chance of falling, of developping and using their own free will, taking chances and doubting the will of their father. »

»Like Luci? Like Cas? And Michael, Uriel, Zachariah? Even Anna? What kind of sense does that make? Some of those are archangels, they aren't supposed to doubt God's, right?«

»No, that's different, Dean. Well, with the exception of Lucifer, he gets his completely own chapter in the story. But the reason all the others disobeyed their father was mostly because he went missing. That and, well, Sammy starting the Apocalypse«- Sam pouted lips and averted his gaze.- »With God missing, they lost their compass, they had no new orders and they became chaotic. But here, we're talking about Angels predestined by God himself to turn on him, to disobey. »

»Wow, God really is a douche. He creates Angels, his perfect little warriors and defenders of Earth against demons and makes them disobey and join forces with Hell?! Holy crap.«- Dean said in disbelief.

»No, all angels are created holy. If we take the Bible for a source, God himself could not create sin and therefore he couldn't create unperfect angels. But some Orders are, because of their characterisation and their mission, more likely to follow Lucifer's path. Anyway, the Angles of the Second Sphere, the Powers, Dominions and Virtues are sometimes quoted »unholy«, even St. Peter describes them as evil. They are described as governmental rulers who choose to act upon their intellect and will, in that way disobeying God. Powers are those invested with authority. In Ephesians 6:12, the Powers are described as fallen angels, those who have the power and authority to exercise over the world, they are forces of darkness and wickendness.«

»But we still find them in Heaven, not Hell? I don't get that.«

»Exactly. God loves his creatures and if they haven't done anything bad yet, what would call for their exile from Heaven, they probably still hold pretty important rank upstairs.«- answering Dean's question, Bobby nodded, his head still bent, eyes fixed on the book in front of him. Sam straightened up and put both of his hands at the nape of his neck.

»This does not sound good at all. We have some extremly powerful angels running wild, trying to diminish all life on Earth and Hell, for that matter, while God is...where exactly?« he started to walk around the room, raising anxiety among all of us.«

»What about killing them? They could be killed like all other angels, right? With angel blade?«- I asked

»Yes, apparently. I mean, there's not much in here about killing angels. But good luck finding those bastards down here. And you can't just summon them down. They're too powerful, they won't answer.« I bit my lip, now positively nervous.

»Maybe that's why Crowley needs our help. He, as a demon has no fucking way of ever getting near them.«- Dean offered an explanation.-»But, if they're so powerful, why aren't we all dead already? »

Bobby raised his head and looked at the three of us standing in front of him.

»I don't know. But I have a hunch we're going to find that out soon.«


End file.
